


Icarus Falls in Reverse

by the-black-birb (moriturism)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friends With Benefits, Hurt, Pining, no beta i wrote this bc i was sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:07:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23767426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moriturism/pseuds/the-black-birb
Summary: How cruel it is to be in love and apart.
Relationships: Tendou Satori/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 55





	Icarus Falls in Reverse

Bathed in early morning sun, Tendou knows _anyone_ would look absolutely stunning.

But that doesn’t change the way he feels his heart stop beating in his chest when he woke up next to you.

He wishes it were a privilege to see you like this, unguarded and bare, but he knows that’s not true. You were lonely, and he was available.

He was certain plenty of others had been in his spot, next to you on a Sunday morning with only mistakes as memories for the previous night. But it never did stop him from coming back.

“Morning,” you groaned, sitting up next to him.

“Morning, doll,” he smiled lazily, planting a kiss on your lips. He wondered who else stuck around long enough to taste your morning breath.

You sighed, still yet to shake off your morning drowsiness. As was routine, you rolled off your side of the bed and Tendou stepped off his. The feeling of your cold wood floor was becoming far too familiar for his liking, as the first few times he’d visited it startled him compared to his own carpeted bedroom, but he was quick to push it out of his mind.

Before he was truly awake enough to know what he was doing, Tendou found his way to your kitchen and started setting up your coffee pot. With trained ease, he grabbed two mugs and set them on the counter while he waited for you.

“Aww babe,” you teased, seeing the coffee already poured. “For me?”

Tendou smirked back playfully. “Nah, I decided to drink two mugs,” he quipped, preparing your coffee just how you liked it.

Although he was fairly certain no-strings-attached meant he shouldn’t have your coffee order memorized (or the layout of your kitchen or the color of your eyes), it hadn’t stopped Tendou before, and you never seemed to mind.

The two of you sat in comfortable silence as you drank the coffee, slowly waking up together. Tendou knew what happened in your narrative next, but he still couldn’t hold back his grimace.

“So how’s the search for a real date going?” you asked, like you always did. Every time you saw him, you reminded Tendou to find someone better than you, someone worth his time.

“Perfect, if only someone would respond,” he shot back, lying through his teeth. He’d given up on dating a month into your agreement, but he’d never had the heart to tell you. “You?”

You chuckled dryly at the thought of it. “There’s one guy actually…” you trailed off, eyes tracing Tendou’s figure. There was something about your gaze that made him stop breathing, so scared that if he even flinched, you’d look away. If even just for a moment, he wanted to let himself pretend ‘one guy’ was him.

You looked away and he let out a sigh. “It wouldn’t work out, though,” you huffed. “He’s way too decent for someone like me.”

While Tendou wanted to be relieved that you weren’t getting involved and risking your heart being broken, all he could feel was worry. You always spoke about yourself as if you were not the most beautiful creature he’d ever set his eyes on.

“What do you mean?” he asked, voice uncharacteristically serious. “Someone like you?”

You hesitated for a moment. Your morning coffee usually didn’t get quite this far, and even when it did Tendou was always sure to quell it with some light conversation that had you forgetting he was minutes away from leaving.

“Cute?” Tendou offered, eyebrows raised. You relaxed your shoulders as he took on his mocking attitude again. “Smart? Sexy?”

“Shove it, you.” Rolling your eyes, you punched him in the arm playfully. “Imperfect,” you breathed out, voice sounding far more fragile than you ever intended it to.

Tendou was silent for a moment too long, watching the way you lips quivered when you said the word. He would worship your insecurities like a prayer, nurturing them until they became your strengths.

If he could, that is.

“No one’s perfect,” was his cheap reply. What is there to say to comfort someone so grounded they couldn’t even see the stars poking holes through the sky?

You scoffed, “But some people are damn close.”

You had turned towards him fully now, coffee forgotten. If he had been a few years younger and more daring, he might’ve even believed you wanted to see him, to bask in the comfort of his presence if only for a few more minutes. But he was wiser and more afraid that when you had first met. He couldn’t mess this up now.

“I should get going,” he whispered, standing. You didn’t protest, no matter how much he wished you would.

It was naïve to imagine that anything would change. He was far too concerned with never being good enough, and you were far too worried about being unlovable, to every attempt to fix your routine.

 _Why fix what isn’t broke?_ Tendou almost wanted to laugh at himself.

You walked him to the door (was that normal, too, now?), finger ghosting over his as he got ready to leave. Your expression betrayed your silence, emotions bleeding into the room. As Tendou swallowed back all the dates he wanted to ask you on, he wondered what it was that could possibly have _you_ choked up. He thought about asking but he knew better.

No strings attached.

“See you next time,” he bid you a lazy goodbye, but to your ears it sounded more like a promise.

“Yeah,” you agreed. “Next time.”


End file.
